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Thursday, 18 June 2015

Story Time: A Hobbling Fool (Part 1)

"We said this year was going to be different!" My former best friend argued.

We had just moved into a student flat together along with my boyfriend and two other people. We had promised that we were going to be more social and outgoing, and lo and behold, we had been invited to a party. I wasn't sure about attending; I was tired and planned on having a chilled night in. But she pursued relentlessly so I caved and dragged my boyfriend with us. We got ready and went to the party, drank for some liquid confidence and started socialising.

It actually turned out to be a very eventful night and I made a lot of new friends and had many fantastic stories to laugh about, but none would compare to the one I woke up with.

I had woken up and stood up as I badly needed to pee, and my right leg throbbed with pain. I sat back down confused and tried moving it. It really hurt all over and it hurt to put pressure on it. I hobbled to the bathroom and went to find my best friend or boyfriend. It turned out that since my boyfriend couldn't sleep, he had went on a walk. My best friend was drunk when I woke her up and laughed whilst saying how bad she felt for me. I realised that I was going to get no help from her and then called the boyfriend. He was quite a bit away from the flat and couldn't come home straight away.

I panicked. I couldn't walk and something was seriously wrong. I called my other friend Karen and she came over. We did some research and concluded that I had probably tore a ligament in my knee and she wrapped it up whilst I called the NHS 24.

Never again.

They kept me on hold just to tell me to walk down to the pharmacy and buy painkillers despite the fact I couldn't walk. By that point it was agreed that I should go to A&E and find out what was going on. Karen came with me and we got a taxi.

So we got there, told the reception what was wrong and waited. We waited around 2 and a half hours before someone saw me. Bear in mind, I was actually pretty hungover too and feeling pretty awful. It was the longest 2 and a half hours of my life. When I was seen, it was confirmed it was a torn ligament in my knee and that was it. No crutches, no painkillers, no slip to excuse my absence in college. It had felt like a waste of time.

We had concluded that when I had sat down on a low sofa, the angle had ripped the ligament. I had felt a brief bit of pain at the time, but it had faded and I was bounding around for hours afterwards. Turns out alcohol is the strongest painkiller.

I was on bed rest and had healed in about a week, and was soon back on my feet without help. And I thought it was all over, no more problems with my knee.

Boy was I wrong...

In case you are ever in a situation where you think you have damaged your knee like this, make sure you have someone around you to help you walk. Go seek medical attention but don't put pressure on your leg properly for a few days. Take painkillers and rest. Comment down below your injury stories and remember to share!